


Connections

by TigerLilyNoh



Series: The Uncomfortable Adventures of Sam in Law School [9]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Double Life, F/M, M/M, Multi, Polyamory, Sam Winchester's Demonic Powers, Sam-Centric, Witches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-08
Updated: 2017-06-08
Packaged: 2018-11-11 08:07:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,585
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11144331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TigerLilyNoh/pseuds/TigerLilyNoh
Summary: Collection theme: Sam chose law school over hunting, but it wasn't exactly how he'd imagined it.This ficlet: Sam begins trying to integrate his mundane life & his supernatural life.





	Connections

The morning after going to Chinatown, Sam decided to get to work on figuring out how to reincorporate the supernatural into his life.  He sat for several minutes staring at his closed laptop trying to convince himself that it was alright.  Looking around a little online wasn't going to be some gateway to hunting- he wasn't a hunter anymore.  He tried to tell himself that h'd barely ever been one.  Now that he knew some witches, knew what it felt like to be on the other side of the hunt, he'd never go back.

Sam made a separate user account on his computer for his research into whatever was going on with him.  He made the account password protected just in case Brady decided to use his laptop.  It took him awhile to think of a password that was sufficiently outside of anything Brady might guess, YellowEyes felt as good as any.  The imagery had been reoccurring during the vision triggered by the skull, so it probably had something to do with the situation.

He started searching for information on the local supernatural scene.  In all his years that he'd been living in the Bay Area he'd never actually tried to get a lay of the land. From a cursory glance it looked like Stacy had been right that his resources were significant.  There were at least six covens, two people claiming to be necromancers, & an extranatural survivors support group.  Most signs of life were in the form of comments on forums or blogs rather than the flip sider posting the primary content.  He noticed the distinct lack of identifying information and appreciated the fact that any witches or similar creatures had to be wary of exposing themselves to hunters- He needed to be wary of that.  As a psychic, he was in what might be considered a hunting grey area.

He created a new online persona, completely disparate from his normal identity, then posted on one of the local forums trying to at least feel out the community.  His post was a version of the truth with a few artistic liberties taken to ensure anonymity.  He said he’d just moved to the area, found out he was a seer, and wanted to know more about that sort of stuff.  He started describing the migraines and painful effects of the visions, but stopped himself.  That could easily be used to identify him if he slipped up later on.  He erased the part about his health problems for the moment- he'd have to find a way of researching that more discreetly.

If he was going to be interacting with the supernatural community he'd also need to get a sense of the inherent dangers.  For years he'd existed in one of the higher tiers in the metaphorical or occasionally literal food chain.  It was true that predators like vampires & werewolves could be more dangerous than hunters, but they rarely sought out hunters.  For the most part hunters didn't have to fear being pursued, the strength disparity between them & the typical prey they hunted left them in a relatively safe position, aside from the rare vendetta.  The only creature his dad had ever taught Dean & him to avoid was demons.

Stacy had been able to see the demonic aura that apparently surrounded him, which could end up being a problem.  He couldn’t recall a hunter ever mentioning those sorts of auras before.  It was possible that the telltale sign was held close to the magical community’s chest, lest they give the hunters such a powerful gift.  But even if hunters couldn’t spot the aura, that didn’t mean he was in the clear.  Other magically attuned people & creatures could presumably see it and that might affect how they’d treat him.  Knowing the significance of a demonic aura and how it might impact his diplomatic potential with the flip side had to be a high priority for him.

To Sam’s surprise, within an hour of posting his story on a local mystical forum he had three different replies asking if he could provide clairvoyant services for a fee.  The thought of hiring himself out at a psychic was a bit unnerving.  He had no idea how to use his powers, let alone what they even entailed.  It felt like there had to be a common element among the flashes he would catch.  Maybe someday he'd understand how to control what was happening, but for the moment everything was too volatile.  

Even if he could control his powers, it seemed that those powers were highly sought after, maybe even to the point of endangering him.  During his time hunting with his family he’d seen more than a few atrocities in the name of profit, excused by the fact that the victims weren’t considered human.  He doubted that anyone would kill a functional psychic to make powdered supplements from his bones, but he’d seen a djinn imprisoned to provide hallucinogenic services at a club.  What’s to say that some opportunist wouldn't jump at the chance to have their own personal psychic under lock & key.  The thought made his stomach knot.  He popped an extra anti-anxiety pill, then lit up a joint before continuing his research.

There were so many new aspects of his life that he'd have to learn and there was too much risk involved in relying on unknown sources.  He'd have to talk to Stacy again, probably more than once.  Starting with her coven, he'd have to meet with and get referred to other people on the flip side in order to safely find out what was going on with him & how to save the people from his visions.

He made a journal on the password protected account.  In it he started documenting the visions he was having, then comparing those visions to news articles he found online.  It was just a start to an ongoing project, but after six hours of work he had 32 visions documented.  Those visions only actually depicted 26 deaths, and of those he could only find news articles documenting 10 deaths.  He wasn't sure if the remaining 16 deaths hadn't been discovered yet or if not, how far in advance his visions were.  With a little effort he added dates to each vision approximating when he'd seen it.  Going forward he'd try to document each vision and hopefully track the geographical & temporal range of his powers.

* * *

Sam’s eyes were starting to sting from staring at his laptop for too long when his cell phone buzzed.  He rubbed his face, then popped a few long overdue crackers in his mouth before grabbing his phone.  He'd been consumed by researching the flip side for almost six hours- knowing his luck he'd accidentally missed one of his tutoring sessions.

“You around?  I need some motivation to study.  Flashcard game?”  Brady had texted.

Sam glanced over at the pile of textbooks & notes that had gone untouched for nearly 72 hours.  Midterms were coming up in just a few weeks and this whole demonic aura ordeal had set him back in his preparation.

He felt guilt gnawing at him.  There were people in trouble and he was worrying about his grades.  His instincts were screaming at him to stop everything and find them, save them- but he didn’t even know who any of them were until their deaths made the news.  He wasn't sure how he'd survive if he did drop out of school to pursue this full time.  The cost of living in the Bay Area was so high that the lack of scholarship funded housing might simply drive him from the area.  With no history of employment beyond some tutoring, he wasn't sure he could get a decent job.  And if he left the area he wouldn't have any reliable connections to help him with the seer issue, except for his family or Bobby and he didn't want to think about how that’d go.  

He needed to stick to his plan.  Just another year and a half of school, then he'd be in a good position to get a job that'd provide him some economic flexibility.  In the meantime, maybe he could cut back on his tutoring for as long as he could stretch the money Stacy’s family had given him.  With that free time he'd network with the flip side and try to find out everything he could about psychics, demons, & the people in his visions.  If he ended up getting a lead on one of the people from his visions, then he could try to save them, but without intel & the means to locate them they were just another pitiful potentiality or regret.

Dr. Neves had told him that he needed to go easier on himself- to learn to forgive himself.  Every time he got a vision going forward it would be a double threat.  It would hurt him in so many ways.  The thought that the visions were real had been distressing him since he'd found out.  If he wasn't careful the pain & helplessness would crush him.  He had to learn that he couldn't save everyone- But the other threat was that he could easily become desensitized to the horrors, in some ways he already had.  The violence was disturbing, but not nearly as much as it had been near the beginning.  Maybe the realization that those images weren't products of his morbid imagination would keep him on his toes awhile longer, but he could definitely see the possibilities of acclimated to his new reality.

As much as he needed to be attuned to all the physical & emotional dangers that his situation presented, he needed to try to maintain some normalcy.  He needed to retain his relationships outside of the flip side.  He needed to continue existing in the world.  Sam started typing out his reply to Brady.

* * *

About an hour later, Sam answered the knock at his door.  Brady entered the dorm room and started taking his backpack off when he paused for a beat.  He looked at Sam, doing a double take with a slightly furrowed brow.

“Something's wrong.”  Brady said as he dropped the bag of books, then approached Sam.  “What happened?”

“It's not- I'm not…”  Sam sighed.  

It figured that Brady’d be able to notice even the smallest clues of stress in his face.  Brady had the benefit of having seen him experience countless moments of emotional turmoil while Sam was initially going through the falling out with John & Dean.  Sam should’ve guessed that Brady would notice he was upset about something.  He didn't know how to begin to tell Brady about everything that was going on with him.  Brady cautiously hugged him.

“You can tell me anything.”  Brady whispered as he went in for a kiss, but Sam pulled his head back an inch.  

He didn’t want to kiss Brady, not yet.  There was a wrongness to it completely separate from the anxiety Sam was feeling over the supernatural stuff.  Normally he might want to drown his fears in physical comfort, but his guilt flared anew.  He sighed as he tried to summon some courage.

“Stacy, the woman from the EDM concert stopped by yesterday to ask for some legal advice.  We had sex again.”  Sam couldn't quite look at Brady’s eyes.  “I needed to tell you, before you kiss me or anything.”

Brady nodded thoughtfully.  He was understanding, but their relationship hadn't ever been open.  Jessica had been brought into their relationship, it wasn't like they both had independent snuck off to have sex with her.  They shared, they were honest with each other.  Sam hadn't talked to Brady before having sex with Stacy, but it was kinda debatable whether Brady & he were officially dating again- it kinda felt like they were dating, but they hadn't really talked about it.  Either way, he didn't want to hide what had happened from Brady.  He didn't want to cheat on him, letting the lapse in judgment become a betrayal.

“You like her?”  Brady asked after nearly a minute of painful silence.

“I honestly don't even know.  She's different, cool with some unconventional stuff-”

“I remember, or at least I remember pieces of it.”  Brady huffed a small laugh at the memory, then turned a bit more serious.  His fingers slid down Sam's arms and took his hands.  “Is it a woman thing?  Do you need that?”

“It's not like you aren't enough- You're great.  It's just she has a different energy and I was kind of wound up and I just ended up working it out on her.”  Sam explained, then hastily added.  “It wasn't like us-”

“But it was fun.”

“Yeah.”  Sam admitted.

“Do you want to see her again?”

Sam's eyes widened subtly at the realization that Brady was considering some kind of interaction or relationship with her.  At the very least it sounded like Brady was thinking of giving Sam permission to go see her by himself.  He wasn't even convinced that he wanted to have anything beyond a professional relationship with Stacy.  The sex had been frantic- but admittedly good.  And establishing a casual sexual relationship would help act as a cover for contacting her about supernatural stuff.

“Maybe.”  Sam shrugged meekly at Brady.  “She asked how you were doing.  I think you made an impression.”

“We made an impression.”  Brady grinned.  “Want to invite her over after the last midterm?”

Sam wasn't entirely sure that Stacy would be comfortable being invited to a three way.  Last time it had been an intoxicated encounter.  Brady was suggesting they, completely without pretenses, invite her over for a fling.  He wasn’t sure how the hypothetical evening could be anything more than sex, but it wouldn’t really surprise him if both Stacy & Brady would be alright with that arrangement.  At the very least it would provide him an excuse for future communications with her.

“If you're okay with having her over, yeah.  I think she might be fun to mix it up with occasionally.  And if you ever want to do something with her on your own, I don't mind.”  Sam offered, partially in the hopes that Brady would return the measure of trust.

“It sounds fun.”  Brady leaned in and kissed Sam.  Brady’s hands slid up Sam’s chest, rested on his shoulders, then started massaging him.  “You're so tense.  Were you freaking out about telling me?”

“I- I was worried that you'd be upset and… aside from school you're the only good things in my life-”

“Aside from school I'm the only thing in your life- you need a hobby or something.”  Brady tried to lighten the mood.

“I didn't want to have another fight, but I couldn't keep something like that from you.”

“I love you.  You don't have to worry about telling me things.”  Brady stared at him for a moment and Sam tried to imagine how insane the truth would sound.  “Just don't cut me out of your life again.”

“I promise.”  Sam whispered, then kissed Brady.

They shoved the books & notes off the bed.  Sam barely managed to set an alarm on his phone before Brady pinned him down.  When they were done they fell asleep holding each other.  Sam woke up when the alarm beeped.  Brady continued to doze, head resting on Sam's chest.  Rather than immediately getting up to resume his research & studying, Sam just laid there for a long while running his fingers through Brady’s hair.  Someday he'd tell Brady the truth about everything, but first he needed to find it.


End file.
